SMP 141: Unlocking Your Solar Project’s Potential with Operations and Maintenance

Episode Summary

In this episode, Benoy interviews Jesse Waters who is the  Co-Founder of Tri-Force Energy - Commercial & Utility Scale Solar Inspections, Testing, & Repair Company.  He talks about the importance of operations & maintenance(O&M) for solar projects, how technology is improving the life of solar assets, and the importance of relationships for success in business.

Benoy Thanjan

Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he is also an advisor for several solar startup companies.  He has extensive project origination, development, and financial experience in the renewable energy industry and in the environmental commodities market.  

This includes initial site evaluation, permitting, financing, sourcing equipment, and negotiating the long-term energy and environmental commodities off-take agreements. He manages due diligence processes on land, permitting, and utility interconnection and is in charge of financing and structuring through Note to Proceed (“NTP”) to Commercial Operation Date (“COD”). Benoy composes teams suitable for all project development and construction tasks. He is also involved in project planning and pipeline financial modeling. He has been part of all sides of the transaction and this allows him to provide unique perspectives and value. Benoy has extensive experience in financial engineering to make solar projects profitable.

Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the Environmental Commodities Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity which merged with Tesla in 2016.  He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of Tesla to move into the east coast markets. 

Benoy was the Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners which is a national solar installer where he focused on project finance solutions for commercial scale solar projects.  He also worked for Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund, where he analyzed potential investments in renewable energy projects and worked on maximizing the financial return of the projects in the portfolio.  Benoy also worked on the sale of all of the renewable energy projects in Ridgewood’s portfolio.  

He was in the Energy Structured Finance practice for Deloitte & Touche and in Financial Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young.  Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. He has a MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.  Benoy was an Alumni Scholar at the Stern School of Business.  

Jesse Waters

Co-Founder of Tri-Force Energy

• 14-year PV Industry Veteran
• IBEW Local 375 - Journeyman Inside Wireman
• Northampton Community College – Adjunct Professor, PV Systems
• Vanguard Energy Partners - O&M Manager
• True South Renewables – Sr. Service Technician
• Next Phase Solar / Enphase Energy -  Supervisor, East Coast
• PV Pros - Director of Operations
• Omnidian - Director, Commercial Operations

Stay connected:

Benoy Thanjan

Website: www.reneuenergy.com

Email: info@reneuenergy.com

LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan

Facebook: Reneu Energy

 

Jesse Waters

Email:  jesse.waters@njsolarservices.com 

Website:  https://triforceenergy.com/

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-waters/

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This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.